The present invention relates to industrial fasteners used to releasably secure one panel to another.
The field of industrial fasteners has received considerable attention over the years, both in this country and abroad, from engineers, inventors and designers. Many millions of industrial fasteners are used each year and the industrial fastener field comprises numerous companies, both large and small, who seek to obtain market acceptance of their fasteners on the basis of such factors as price, strength, appearance, reliability and ease of operation.
One type of widely employed fastener is used to removably secure one panel to another. For example, the first panel may be the descending flange of the top of a case and the second panel may be a side wall of the case.
A metal toggle latch is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,049,301 in which a lever is rotated upwardly and toward the keeper in order to close the latch. The lever pivots on a pin carried by the side walls of a bracket. The lever carries a second pin which forms the pivot for the drawbar. That toggle latch uses two pins and the lever assembly comprises three complex metal members, namely, the lever, the bracket and the drawbar.
In U.S. Pat. No. 1,791,891 at FIGS. 1-11 a release mechanism is employed to permit, upon its release, the rotation of a headlamp frame. A spring may be spread open by rotation of a lever; however, the lever does not pivot about a center and does not have extension portions. A fastener having a toggle joint and constructed of wire is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,090,634. The fastener is closed by operation of the handle upwards and toward the keeper (eye). Similarly, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,088,623 and 3,172,205 the fasteners are closed by operation of the handle toward the panels, in both fasteners the handle (lever member) being mounted on pins.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,193,314 the handle is mounted on one pin and the catch member on a different pin.